5 Messy Ways to Play Brain Surgeon

I picked up a fun gelatin mold the other day. It’s a brain. I mainly got it because I’m Left Brain Craft Brain, you know, and thought it would be fun for Halloween. Then I realized how much fun this could be for The Babe. So every other day we pull the brain out along with some new supplies! Ice, baking soda, play dough… You can use them for Halloween or Mad Scientist parties. Or you can use them to actually learn a bit about the parts of the brain. Either way, get ready fore a lot of messy fun!

Slime Play Brain Surgery

First up is slime play with the brain mold. Because I don’t know about you, but I always have assumed a brain is pretty dang slimy. The Babe used the leftover slime from our Sunset Slime project (recipe included). The amazing thing was that after a few weeks, the colors had faded to a perfect shade of brain.

Also, I figured this is the best time to chat about that whole Left Brain Right Brain thing… The brain is separated into two hemispheres, the right and the left. Historically, scientists have believed that logical thought is controlled by the left side and creative thought on the right side. But more recent research has shown that many processes tend to use both sides of the brain. For example, mathematical thought was believed to be controlled solely by the left hemisphere. But in reality only fact retrieval and exact calculations are managed on the left. Numerical estimation and other math deductive processes appear to require both sides of the brain. Hmm… maybe I need to rethink the name of my blog ;)

Play Dough Brain Surgery

Press play dough into the inside of the brain mold. If learning about the regions of the brain, follow my diagram above. (Do not follow my example in the picture on the left. Getting the colors in the right places was a curiously difficult, spatial awareness exercise that The Babe and I did not get right the first time!

Carefully pull away the play dough from the inside of the brain. Then place on the upside down brain for support. I used a balled up dish towel to support the dough while I was moving it.

Vinegar and Baking Soda Brain Surgery

This is your standard science activity of baking soda and vinegar with a brainy twist.

Fill bin with several cups of baking soda. We used about 3-4 cups of baking soda to make it extra bubbly.

Place frozen brain in a bin of baking soda. It may take a bit for the reaction to start, but once it does, there’s tons of foamy fun. Be sure the brain is frozen completely or this activity will go really quickly as the vinegar empties into the baking soda and starts the reaction right away (can you guess that this may have happened to us?).

And yes, my daughter does have a jaguar costume on with her safety glasses. She loves dress-up! Plus didn’t I tell you this is perfect for Halloween parties ;)

Gelatin Brain Surgery

After all this play, we decided we were hungry :) So we played zombies and ate some Jell-O brain. And then played with the leftovers.

Make Jell-O according to package instructions and pour into mold. Refrigerate until set.

Once the Jell-O has set, dip outside of mold into a bowl of hot water to help loosen the brain. After the brain has loosened around the sides (approximately 30 seconds), place plate on top of mold and invert to remove the brain. If it doesn’t come out, repeat the hot water dip and invert again.

Insert gummy worms into the brain or arrange around it on the plate.

To play with leftovers, pour brain into a bin. Have towels ready because this is a sticky one!!

Whew! Long post today, but this was literally the play that just kept on going. If you have more ideas on ways to use one of these brain molds{affiliate}, let me know in the comments!

Hi Eve. It doesn’t take very long to set, I think we just pushed it into the mold for 10 seconds or so. But it does start to spread out pretty quickly too. It looks like a brain for at least a few minutes, but you won’t be able to pre-set them before the party.

I was wondering if I could use a picture of yours in my new YouTube channel that I’m making. Please let me know soon, I just loved it so much and I thought it was perfect for the the channel I want to create!

Ouu i never imagined my kids playing with Brain Surgeon , but that’s look cool, i will let my kid to play with brain surgeon so she can get attached with medical things and probably one day she will be a doctor , who knows , :)

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[…] 5 Messy Ways To Play Brain Surgeon by Left Brain Craft Brain – Have you ever wanted to touch a brain? This guide gives you FIVE different ways for you and your children to create their own brain and do a little harmless surgery. […]

[…] his pencil correctly today might be the leading neuroscientist of tomorrow. Recently I came across 5 Messy Ways to Play Brain Surgery, by Left Brain Craft Brain and I was nothing short of inspired. There are some really brilliant ways to play and learn in that […]

[…] Messy Play Brain Surgeon: I was very lucky to have my husband home with me and he took over some of the homeschooling for me this month, so I do not have a picture for this one. This is what they did though, I purchased a really cheap brain Jello mold from Amazon and they made the Jello and had it set. Once it set they talked about the brain, the different parts, what they do, and then they went into surgery and made a mess! But it was a delicious mess 🙂 For more “Brain Surgeon” ideas you can check out Left Brain Craft Brain . […]